Emerald
by Kakashik
Summary: The Dursleys dump their nephew when he is only four years old. Struggling to survive, young Harry makes friend with a knowledgeable snake and discovers the Wizarding World in the most... bizarre way.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimers**__: I don't own Harry Potter._

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_Emerald_

**Chapter 1**

He sat quietly in the depth of the dark alley that led to his unsettled nest built with old newspapers and discarded cardboard boxes. He would bite anyone that dared to mock his dearly nest – he himself had had to looked for every shred paper and cardboard in order to build his own home. In reality, this hellhole full of rats and rags eventually become heaven for a stray cat, because the two-legged ones never walked in here and all other carnivores followed their two-legged masters.

Let's say again, for those whose brain cells had fallen beyond repair: he was an ageless cat. Don't ask him the reason of it, he wouldn't even know, his common senses were too poorly constructed.

Cats had an absolutely different aging system compared to the two-legged. After every three hundred and sixty five sunsets, a two-legged got older one more 'year'. Cats were not that lucky. The lifespan of a cat was much shorter; while those creatures celebrated their birthday with big, soft-looking eatable colored thing with candles that formed a number that was usually greater than twenty, many of his friends were greeted by Saint Pierre somewhere beyond the blue sky. It was more or less a perfect dream of cats whose masters were Catholic.

He was not Catholic. He did not believe in the ghastly white statues that could possess unnatural powers. His fur had been turning black times ago; the black spots slowly beat the white ones. One day, his next-door neighbor had his eyes as round as those of a cornered rat and stated with disbelief that he had become a creature of darkness. He hunched his shoulders – not only the two-legged could do that – and told him not to read too much Greek myths, while his deep emerald eyes, speckled with silver, gazed through the grey ones of his neighbor.

Starting from that moment, the cat knew that something was missed. About two years later – two-legged speaking – his neighbor died in an extremely bloody battle with the most infamous rat of the whole alley. Times floated away without traces; it wasn't long before he became the only cat alive within three thousands cat footings, his nest centered. The rats wouldn't touch him. His growing seemed to stop. He still recognized tiredness and numb, but only after long rats-chasing – one thing old cats never dared imitate. He wasn't really old – he had only been living a couple of years in two-legged counting, which meant sixty-seventy years in cat counting. If he was old then… but when compared to other species, he was nothing more than a wailing baby. At least, his outer appearance.

He has been living, with abnormality running in his veins, as a part of a past so far away that he couldn't reach…

-

During the time before his neighbor died, said cat usually gazed into his forehead, through the short midnight-colored fur, and kept asking the same question: 'Where did that scar come from?'

At first, he answered: 'What scar? I didn't have any accident to even get a scar'

'You do have a scar. Right in the middle of your forehead. Lighting bolt-shaped'

His eyes narrowed. He recalled having seen that shape somewhere. He let out a small meow of protest – he had seen the lighting bold shape in a tattered newspaper. The monotone picture moved non-stop – he didn't notice the abnormality, knowing himself too clearly. It was a baby, two-legged race, with a cute mop of raven hair and bright eyes widely open. The baby was crying. Its scar, the same shape as his, had blood dripping out on his forehead.

'So?' he replied, feeling no need to inform his neighbor of the newspaper. The other cat shook his head.

'Well, it really is not my business. But I'll have you know that a lighting bolt-shaped scar on the forehead of a cat is extremely out of place'

That night, he suddenly felt the need of sleep. Cats never slept at nights – he said to himself. He remained awake for a little while and then indulged sleep. Eyelids becoming heavy, he drifted off to sleep, mentally reminded himself that he wasn't worth as a creature of darkness.

'_Lily! Take Harry and run! I'll hold him!'_

'_Avada Kedavra!'_

'_James!'_

'_Step aside, worthless Mudblood. Step aside and I may spare your pitiful life. Step aside!'_

'_No! Never!'_

'_Too bad, you have just made your choice then, Mudblood. A very difficult choice indeed. Avada Kedavra'_

_The woman fell lifelessly onto the floor. Through her burning red bangs, her emerald eyes now dulled and inanimate, her arms clutched the black-haired baby, who was completely silent._

'_Just you and me now. Harry James Potter and Lord Voldemort. You shall no doubt become a powerful wizard, but I shan't let that happen. Goodbye, Harry Potter'_

_The Killing Curse spoken so softly, the sickly green light beam towards the baby at blurring speed…_

His eyes jerked open; he yelped loudly, startled his neighbor in the process, who glances askance at the smaller cat: 'What happened?'

'Nothing. Just a nightmare' he spoke between gasps.

'Serves you right for sleeping so soon' the other cat grunted 'Now either stay awake or go back to sleep, but keep quiet'

-

After many years living in the darkest hell of the alley, he was confident enough to conclude: Snakes was the most aggreeable creatures in the world. Of course he did exclude his neighbor.

Snakes had everything that cats lacked to become real hunters. Snakes could slither everywhere without legs, or snakes weren't color-blind – any color was the same to a snake. There were times he wished to become a snake, even if just to respond to his curiosity of an abnormal cat.

True to the name 'Snakepit' of the alley, the number of snakes living here was great. There were even several races that he had never seen before except in the rectangular box that had flash of pictures. Snakes reunited here for only one reason: the rats. Local rats were fat and so numerous, especially when the two-legged brought bags of junk food here and left. Of course, he would never eat those junks. But rats, after being skinned from their filthy outer layer, were delicious.

He also had another close friend, a snake called Luce. Luce was a King cobra, whose poison could kill twenty mice in one bite. Luce had come to this alley solely for food – really, even a snakepit wasn't fit enough for a King cobra - but when they meet each other, Luce had decided to stay and befriend him. He didn't have a name, even his neighbor only called him 'cat', so Luce named him Lucas – Lucifer's most dangerous henchman. He didn't know the origin of this name, but still contently accepted. Besides, Lucas was a great name, and it went with Luce.

Lucas appreciated his talks with Luce in his poorly built cardboard nest. The cat had had to drag more papers to enlarge his heaven for a snake that was as seven times longer than him, but Lucas didn't care. Rats and other snakes usually sneaked away in Luce's presence, especially when Lucas was wrapping himself warmly in his King cobra's embrace – a pretty terrific sight. And Luce was a living library. The snake knew everything – from hunting secrets to 'that thing' of the two-legged.

'Lucas, have you ever heard of Harry Potter?'

'Who is Harry Potter?'

'Guess I have to narrate from the beginning. What do you know about Magic?'

-

Luce stayed awaked for the whole night and explained everything about Magic to the cat, including Harry Potter's stories. Lucas felt turned in his stomach. All of this – he felt so familiar, even if he had never heard of Harry Potter nor the word 'magic'.

What did he hear?

'_Worthless freak'_

Lucas buried himself deeper into his guardian's scaly skin…

-

'_Son, are you alright? Open your eyes, son'_

Annoyed by the foreign string of unfamiliar language, he stretched himself and gave a long yawn. He suddenly felt strange – his nest didn't seem to fit. Upon opening his eyes, he almost fainted. In place of the silky black fur was a layer of smooth and ghastly pale _two-legged_ kind of skin. His foots were no longer cat-liked, but likely two-legged-liked, with short and rectangular claws and long toes. He reached to touch his own face.

In short, he looked nothing different that the two-legged that was standing in front of him and that was currently staring at him with a complicated facial expression.

'_Son, why are you laying here? That snake is really dangerous, you know'_

He turned to Luce, who stirred and awakened. The snake was irritated. Two slits yellow pupils switched between Lucas and the two-legged. Finally, Luce said: 'Is that you, Lucas?'

Lucas answered and startled at the long hiss he made: 'I'm alright. What happened?'

Luce didn't reply; she hissed angrily and wrapped herself around Lucas' new thin frame to protect him. The two-legged backed off with a clearly distressed expression on his wrinkled face and shouted out loud the same foreign language. Luce hissed in his ears: 'Say something, anything. The two-legged will run away'

Lucas let out a long inaudible hiss. To Luce and him, it was just 'creatures like you aren't welcomed here. Get lost' but the two-legged's eyes were widely open. He turned back to the exit of the alley and ran with full speed.

Lucas turned back to the snake, which seemed thoughtful for a minute. Then Luce said calmly: 'I know what you truly are'

'What? What do you mean?' Lucas didn't understand. His stomach turned again.

'You are not a cat. You are a human, a two-legged, just like that creature. You are also a wizard. And you are…'

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_Reviews are appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N**__: I left the Parseltongue conversations normal because it's the only language Lucas and Luce have been using. I'll change them back to italic when English dominates. Also, Albus Dumbledore here isn't manipulative. He made mistake and hid many things behind the grandfatherly mask, but he's in the good side._

_The pairings of this story is undecided so can you tell me which pairings you prefer in your reviews? Slash pairings are accepted. Of course, there won't be any graphics for the rating is only K+._

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_Emerald_

**Chapter 2**

Peter Pettigrew was running for his life.

Darkness filled the sewer, took away his ability to see. He heard nothing but the strong, panicked beating of his weakened heart and the menacing hiss of the creature trailing behind him, chasing him as he sprinted as if there was no tomorrow toward the end of the sewer – Merlin bless him if it even had an end. His tiny legs threatened to give out, bleeding – Peter had stomped on many things to leap an exit from the reptile, sharp stone and poisonous herb included – but he had no time to think about his legs in this moment, his mind was too shallow and tired, and if he ever lost whatever left of concentration he would pass out.

No, he could not afford that to happen. He was Peter Pettigrew, the Dark Lord's spy, he couldn't die when his Lord hasn't been resurrected; he had swore an oath to himself and his magic that he, and maybe together with his… comrades, they would bring their Master back to the mortal plane and achieve their unfinished goal. Peter – a spy who nobody would suspect – had been through many hellholes, had endured endless rounds of torture – both physical and mental from both the Dark and Light Lord – why would he give up now?

Oh, but if his mind was still sane enough to do the comparison, he would have concentrated on the predator behind his back and not his incorporeal Master, which probably hovered somewhere on the planet but definitely not this sewer and absolutely could not help his follower.

Peter squeaked when once again he stepped on a particularly sharp piece of glass. The pain embedded itself into his brain, painfully reminded him of his aggravating situation. The snake was on his tail; its venom-drooping canines were not so far from his skeletal vermin body and ready to sink themselves in it, granting Peter a sudden paralysation and slow death.

There! The end of the sewer! Just one dash and he could make it out of here alive, for outside had many dustbins and tiny holes into which his predator couldn't follow him. Peter squeaked merrily, shortly forgot the pain his body was manifesting; the end of the sewer in his eyes shone like a gem, lending him power to escape. However, not so fast…

There was a tiny rock in his way. Peter was knocked over, lying pitifully in a heap at the right side of the sewer. _This is the end. Forgive me, my Lord, for I have not succeeded in my given task._ Peter gathered what little left of his concentration and morphed back into human form, hoping to daze the snake a little with his feat of magic.

Peter was right. The snake dramatically pulled to a stop, its slit yellow eyes stared at the human in utter confusion. Peter spared no time as turning into his Animagus form again and quickly scuttered out of the sewer, cursing his injured legs. He thought, for sure this time, that he had once again escaped the very coming of Death.

Peter was wrong.

He could feel his skin tore away, his flesh butchered into two holes and the venom circulate into his blood. He could feel the canines dwelling deeper into his stomach, savaging his organs. His legs gave out constantly, his mind rendered numb. Darkness took him and he knew no more.

The slit eyes widened when the dying prey disappeared and the previously tattered human took its place. The Slytherin creature didn't understand. Had it been a case just like its friend? But the friend was a cat. She didn't know. Maybe. The snake just hadn't obtained enough knowledge about magic.

The human has died, anyway. The venom couldn't be controlled to only paralyze and not kill. At least she could dragged it back to its friend cat-human and show him what she had discovered today.

Then she would have to hunt again, knowing she could never eat the human.

-

Meanwhile, Lucas – or should we say Harry Potter – was trying to adapt with his new body. There were many things different between a human and a cat that bothered him to no end, as he couldn't do whatever he used to do anymore. He couldn't catch mice with these clawless fingers, couldn't jump higher than a dustbin without seriously hurting himself in falling, couldn't balance himself on cables as the tail was missing… so many inconvenient that Lucas wondered how human could have ever survived. Not to mention that his teeth were small and the canines seemed to shrink back to pathetic size, meaning he could never tear flesh apart. He supposed he must acquaint himself with the new body sooner or later, for he couldn't deny his root.

Lucas had also figured out how to morph back to feline form. He eventually gave up on researching his own body and turned back into his cat form, snatched a rat to satisfy his stomach and waited for Luce to come home and bring along some mice for them to feast on.

What he didn't expect was that the snake came back with no mice but a full-grown human seeming dead. His cat slit eyes twitched with the question as Luce dropped the body with a loud 'thud' and slithered toward him, forked tongue flicking in distaste: 'I brought him back for you. This human was a wizard'

'A wizard? One that can do magic?' asked Lucas in curiosity. He had never seen a wizard.

'Stop asking me silly questions, you know that already. That human could turn into a rat'

'Oh,' replied the cat 'so you were chasing him and finally killed him. Pity'

'Search him for anything useful. Maybe he still had his wand with him. I'm going to hunt. I haven't had anything since last week' hissed the snake.

'Happy hunting, then. But how did you drag him all the way here?'

'I'm not going to answer that, brat'

Left alone, Lucas stared at the dead corpse, not knowing what to do. Searching him for anything useful? He didn't even want to approach it, which was so filthy with dirt and mud sticking all over the cover – he thought the human called it 'clothes' or something – and obviously stank like a dead mutt. The heightened sense of a cat didn't help him any.

He tried to push the corpse over but discovered that a cat could never have enough strength to do so. Brows scrunching up in concentration, Lucas morphed back into his human form and almost shouted at his nakedness – for the third time in the same day – but then felt embarrassed at being so easily surprised. He has been a cat since who-knows-when, why would he bother now? He still had a nice, healthy body in both cat and human form.

He rolled the heavy corpse over, sniffed closely and immediately recoiled at the smell. _This human-rat must have been through every sewer in this city_, Lucas thought. Staring at the series of little round strange things scattering across the belly, the wild child decided to poke them with a twig before actually touching them. He saw many weird-looking holes with threads sealed around them; those round strange pieces pierced through the holes and fastened the whole thing. He tried to undo them but found the process too slow, so he torn them apart with brute strength. That way was much quicker, and he never wanted to touch those clothes again.

To his surprise, a twig fell out. Well, it wasn't really a twig although it felt like wood. It was stiffly straight like a stick and it shivered slightly in Lucas' hands as he held it. The child could sense it… if he could perceive it as… power… or magic… radiate from the piece of wood. However, it was very weak – as if the twig was protesting and didn't want to be held by him. Lucas gave it a wave.

He didn't expect a dustbin nearby to blow up its lid and throw up everything inside, along with a loud 'bang'.

_Hey, what did Luce say… 'Maybe he still had his wand with him'… _Lucas' brows furrowed. _So wizards use a 'wand' to do magic. Why didn't she tell me? But I've never had a wand before and I can do magic. Am I… abnormal? Or powerful?_

Lucas looked down at the wand again. He held it loosely in his fingers, pointed it at the wall nearby and hissed:

'_Explode_'

A rush of energy flowed out from the end of the wand and whirled along to the wall, which was immediately severed into pieces. The energy carved a massive hole where it had hit.

'Destroying already, cat?'

Just getting out of his safe place where he ducked the remnants of broken bricks, the child turned back hastily and sighed when it was just Luce who came back from the hunting. The snake seemed satisfied with both her stomach and Lucas' successful cast.

'I'm not destroying! Why did you come back so early?'

'Usually I laze about after feasting to digest but since you joined me years before I had to quit that habit and returned immediately to look after you, brat. Now, tell me about the wand' snapped the snake, showing its canines.

'Is this… stick a wand?' asked Lucas. He was still pouting that his guardian didn't tell him sooner and expected him to find out everything by himself.

'Yes, that is a wand. How did you feel?'

'Feel what?'

'When you carved a hole through that wall, how did you feel?'

Lucas closed his eyes, trying to remember the feeling. That feat of magic had come out easily as though it was his nature. The energy felt powerful and refreshed, but there was something… something that had tried to protest… or to prevent the rush of magic to flow out… the wand! It was the wand. It was as if the wand wasn't made for him. Now he remembered… the feeling was awkwardness.

'The wand isn't compatible with me. I can feel it'

'I see. Even now, when you're holding it, the wand is shivering' concluded the snake.

'Should I find my own wand? And how can I do that anyway?'

'You certainly didn't require a wand to do magic, child' replied Luce softly 'Don't rely on the wand. You had done wandless magic before, why not develop it? I'm sure you will become powerful'

'But… what about my kind? What if they found me?' asked Lucas. He didn't want to leave his snake guardian to some wizards he didn't know. God, he didn't even want to leave this place, may it be a dark and filthy alley.

'You just said 'your kind'. You'll have to come back eventually. You're Harry Potter, probably their last hope to defeat the Dark Lord. They'll try to win your favor, or designate you to become the perfect soldier. But not all of them are bad. You can have new friends, ones that you can dearly trust'

'What do I have to do? I'm not even sure if I wanted to fight this Dark Lord just because he killed my parents. You said they were in a war, didn't you?'

'They were in a war, and casualties are always ineluctable. You don't have to fight if you don't want to. Don't worry, I'm always with you' said Luce, her eyes softened.

'Promise?'

'Promise'

-

Albus Dumbledore was facing with the biggest headache he'd ever had.

As August approached, they have begun to send letters of acceptance to new students, all of which were fine and reached their destination, except one particularly.

The old wizard looked tiredly at the piece of parchment currently lying on his desk.

_Mr. Harry Potter_

_The Darkest Alley of London East_

_London_

_England_

Needless to say, that was most disturbing.

The first time the Headmaster had saw the bizarre address he had sent a team to investigate the location, hoping it wasn't really 'darkest alley of London East'. His hope was vehemently shattered when they came back and said there was no Harry Potter there and they had looked in every tiniest hole. Not willing to give up, Albus sent another team the week after, only to find Pettigrew's _freshly_ dead corpse. At least with this Sirius could be freed from Azkaban and become Harry's new guardian instead of the Dursleys – Albus loathed that family after Minerva pointed out that they were the worst Muggles on Earth seven years ago – but where's Harry?

So far, the most credible story was that Pettigrew had found Harry and eliminated the boy for his Master. But then why was Harry's name still in Hogwarts' list? The last Potter was still alive, and Albus detested to be left in the shadow.

Now he had the newest headache to come.

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HARRY'S MISSING?' the newly freed Sirius' voice thundered down the hall, pierced through Albus' ears, which the old wizard automatically covered.

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_Reviews are appreciated._


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N**__: Lucas and Luce's conversation will be italic in this chapter. Oh, and later chapters, too, since English will become the main language._

**Emerald**

**Chapter 3**

_Strange_, the man felt as he approached the battered brick wall, quickly closing the distance between his destination and his reluctant footsteps. The alley looked just like any abandoned street, dark and dirty in sunlight, yet something was screaming the word 'abnormal' to his face, to his every sense, overwhelmed him with uneasiness and nervousness. The man took another step forward despite the warning of his Auror's instinct that was flaring and hurling like the Knight Bus in heat. His pride would never let him back down and became his only source of bravery.

The Auror pressed himself against the wall, gloved hands feeling the hard material, eyes squinting, ears straining, fake hope swelling in his drumming heart that urged him to go back to the Ministry and give whoever assigned this mission to him a good yell. He found himself appalled at the mental image while feeling increasingly self-conscious, no thanks to his Disillusionment Charm. A foreign smell hit his nose; it was so enticing that the man took a deep refreshing breath, only to stutter and trip over in a pitiful heap, as an enormous snake appeared right in front of him. Its tongue flicked at him menacingly. Terror filled his insides the moment he recognized what had just happened.

It was magic! The energy fluid normally invisible to human eyes now thickened visibly and burst into uncountable number of coils that blindfolded him, drowned his hearing, impaled and squeezed the air from his lungs, effectively choked him like a rat. He clutched his throat in a silent scream; his mouth gaped hollow, only the occasional twitch of his facial muscles showed his pain. The snake watched him with apathy. His inner organs slowly crumbled under the unnatural force; the horror-stricken irises grew larger as the Auror hit the ground with a clean 'thud'.

His last thought, 'how the hell did Harry Potter ever end up here?' never had answers.

* * *

The alley fell empty the moment the Auror dropped dead on the ground. The air seemed to liquefy, becoming so thick and pseudo-poisonous that one might find difficult to breathe in. Dust froze in thin air, thrashes levitated themselves off the ground, dustbins shook with cackling sound. In a sudden everything stopped, as a raven head could be seen emerging from behind a wall. The figure couldn't be older than ten, and was currently experiencing a panic attack.

A gigantic snake – a Kind Cobra – was curling around the pale nude body, hissing to the child in hope of calming him, to no avail. Her human wouldn't listen to what she said – she noted with a sigh – so she started to squeeze him tight, until he snapped out of the panicked state.

'_Luce! What are you doing! I can't breathe!'_ cried Lucas, flailing his limbs recklessly to escape the snake's iron grip. Eventually, he stopped, realizing what his friend has been trying to do. The struggling ceased and Luce stared at him, her slit yellow eyes dilating.

'_I'm… sorry'_ he stuttered to find an appropriate _apology 'It's just that… I've never killed one of my kind before…' _Lucas fidgeted, relief showing clearly in his angelic face when the snake's attitude softened.

'_I understand. You've never killed a cat, either. But soon, you'll have to get used to it'_

'_What, killing off my own kind?'_ Lucas sputtered _'It's not like hunting rats! You should know it yourself!'_

'_I'd had first hand experiences, Lucas. I'd eaten nothing but fellow lesser snakes before I came here'_

'_How?... Right, you're a Kind Cobra'_ sneered Lucas. He still found the idea of killing human somewhat sick. However, looking at his friend, he knew he had no choice. He relented unwillingly: _'Fine. But I don't want to talk about this'_

Luce gave him a predatory smile that consisted of her fangs and a quirk in her snake eyes, made him back off slightly: _'You'll come to understand, youngling. You may be a human, but as a feline, you're a killer. No doubt, you'll become one amongst your kind. It has run in your blood ever since you entered this alley. And remember Voldemort'_

The snake left after that. Lucas sat alone, idly wondered about what she just said. He didn't understand. He might be a youngling amongst the felines but he was no pushover. He could kill and had already done so, whether to satisfy his hunger or to protect himself. He put up good fights against bullies and intruders, however, has he killed anyone of them? He didn't know.

Or was it that he never killed because he had no reason to. Should his life or Luce's be threatened, Lucas doubted he would have sat and done nothing. The notion of revenge tasted foreign on his tongue as he spoke.

Or was it because he had witnessed the human's goggling eyes, heaving breath as it tried to clutch its life from Death. Lucas wondered if his snake friend could be able to feel such things. A snake felt no pity – he knew from years watching her hunts.

Voldemort killed his parents. Would he kill Voldemort? And everything that stood between?

That human was going to kill Luce – its wand tip flashed deep red in a sudden and if it hadn't been for Lucas, whose eyes perceived the vibrant dot…

The adrenaline streamed inside his veins as Lucas recalled the short encounter. Was this what he had felt, killing the human? Something had crawled inside him, demanding chaos; his magic had acted up violently. The human died of suffocation.

Suddenly he felt very cold. He transformed and curled up against a cardboard box, careful not to soil his velvety black fur. Ignoring the rumbling protest of his stomach, Lucas closed his eyes…

… Only to snap them open as a crashing sound hurled towards him.

Lucas dashed off from his nest. Luce was in trouble.

* * *

His feet moved on their own accord, drawing a circle around the intimidating reptile. His fingers clenched tightly around his wand ; his lips parted slightly, ready to fire off nasty curses should the enemy strike. His skin was ghastly pale ; sweat unwillingly found its way down his temples.

The Cobra eerily reminded him of his dead Master's pet.

The Cobra recoiled, much to Snape's chagrin. It could only mean danger.

Then suddenly it stroke. At the same moment, Snape's wand glowed sickly green.

The heavy body of the snake crumpled and collapsed, dead. Snape's breath came out in hasty smoke. His trance was cut out, however, when a shadow leapt towards him so fast the Potions Master only saw a blur to even retaliate.

Snape's bottomless eyes widened marginally as the shadow seemed to slow down, revealed its form of a cat who transformed into a naked child in mid-leap and landed right onto his face.

'Those eyes…' Snape thought numbly as the small figure pummeled him to the ground and started beating him with little fists. Raising both his arms to block the blows, he couldn't help but smiled in bitterness.

'Never thought the brat could have ended up here, if not for the letter. Albus, you had better brace yourself, for we have done the unforgivable' the smile turned grim in an instant then vanished.

Snape easily caught the child's both arms in an iron grip. Staring at the emerald eyes that stormed violently with emotions, he pointed his wand at him.

'_Stupefy'_

* * *

Lucas regretted the moment he opened his eyes.

His mind screamed White! As he hastily snapped them shut. Where was he? Why was he laying on something… so soft? Where were all the bricks and dustbins and cardboards? What was Luce doing?

His heart beat a thousand times faster when Luce was mentioned.

He remembered a sallow-faced human. He remembered the green light that hurled towards Luce like a rate sneaking back to its nest. He remembered the fallen figure. His heart clenched as realization dawned.

His mentor and only friend, gone, just like his imaginary parents in his dreams.

It was the sallow-faced man who had killed Luce.

Rage engulfed Lucas in storming flame. He opened his eyes again despite the blinding whiteness, responded to his blood boiling inside his veins, demanding revenge.

The adrenaline died out, however, when Lucas found that he couldn't get off whatever he was laying on. He tried to transform, to no avail.

A chuckle caught his attention.

'You won't be able to escape from those charms, Harry'

Lucas blinked.

In front of him stood a distortion of every notion of colors Luce had ever told him about. An old, very old human, wore a vibrant blue clothes-thing that had dozens of golden dots dancing merrily around. Lucas hissed in alarm: _'Who are you?'_

The old human's eyes lost their cheery twinkle at Lucas' voice. His brows then rose in that could only be apprehension: 'I see, my dear boy, you have acquired a very rare gift. Rare, but dangerous nonetheless'

Lucas' patience was running out rapidly. He woke up in who-knows-where, he couldn't get out of whatever was holding and as a bonus, he couldn't understand a thing this human seemed to say to him.

Lucas' attention snapped to the back of the room, where a creaking sound of an open door could be heard. From there came in a human whose smell made the child wanted to run up to trees and another one with herbal odor. His eyes turned bloodshot.

It was the human who had killed Luce.

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_Reviews are appreciated._


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